Shoe bottom unit and method of making the same



July 5, 1938. M, WHELTON 2,122,503

SHO BOTTOM UNIT AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed May 2l, 1936 MN5/vm@jx M. WM

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Patented July 5, 193i7 2,122,503

UNITED- STATES PATENT OFFICE SHOE BOTTOM UNIT ANDl METHOD OF MAKING T'HESAME John M. Whelton, Peabody, Mass., assignor to United Shoe MachineryCorporation, Paterson, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey ApplicationMay 21, 1936, Serial No. 81,055 6 Claims. (Cl. 12-146) This inventionrelates to improvements in shoe quired in the manufacture of so-calledfiddle bottom units and to improvements in methods of shank shoes.Moreover, it enables the stitching making shoe bottom units. The presentapplicaof the tapes to be more easily accomplished and tion is in part acontinuation of my earlier apresults in the provision of an insole unitin which plication Serial No. 600,921, filed March 24, 1932, no stitchesare exposed to View upon its upper 5 upon which United States LettersPatent No. side so that the use of a sock lining may be dis- 2,065,463was granted December 22, 1936. pensed with if desired.

The present invention provides an improved The invention will now beexplained with refershoe bottom unit which is particularly adapted enceto the accompanying drawing, in which for use in the manufacture ofshoes the uppers of Fig. 1 is a perspective View of one form of my 10 ywhich are to be'permanently secured in overimPIOVed iIlSOle unitShOWirlg the upper Side 0f lasted position by means of cement and arealso to the unit; be stapled orotherwise temporarily secured to Fig. 2iS a DelSDeCtiVe VeW 0f the ins01e unit the shoe bottoms to hold them inplace while the showing the lower side thereof;

l5 cement is setting. As herein illustrated, the im- Fig. 3 is afragmentary cross-sectional View of l5 proved shoe bottom unit comprisesa relatively the insole member of the unit illustrating the flexibleinsole having a lasting lip extending along manner in which the lastinglip iS fOlmed; the lower side of its shank and forepart to which Fig.4is a sectional View taken along the line the overlasted margin of a shoeupper may be IVe-IV of Fig. 2;

temporarily secured, and having a portion of the Fig. 5 is alongitudinal sectional view of a modi- 20 insole material exposed at theouter side of the fled form of insole unit; lip to constitute a lastingsurface adapted to re- Fig; 6 is a sectional View taken along the lineceive cement for permanently securing the upper VI-VI of Fig. 5;directly to the insole, a relatively stiff reinforc- Fig. '7 is asectional view similar to Fig. 5 but ing piece which is secured by meansof cement to disclosing a further modified construction; 25

theV upper side of the heel and shank portion of Fig. 8 is a bottom planView of the insole unit the insole, and a narrow metallic shankstiffener shown in Fig. 7;

which is 'located between the insole and the re- Fig. 9 isacross-sectional View of a portion of inforcing piece. The arrangementof the rein-` the insole unit shown in Fig. 7;

forcing pieceand the shank stiffener, both at the Fig- 10 iS a VieWSimilll- '00 Fig 9 but ShOWiflg 30 upper side of the insole, insuresthatneither will the lasting lip in upstanding IJOSOD; and interfere withthesecuring of an effective cement Fig- 11 iS a CIOSS-SeCiSiOnal VieWtaken along the bond between the overlasted upper margins and line XI--X0f Fig- 8- the material -ofl the insole. The lasting lip may Referringrst to Figs. 1, 2 and 4 of the drawbe formed integrally with thesubstance ofA the ing, the IHPTOVed Shoe bottom unit 0I' reinforced 35insole or advantageously the. lip may consist of a insole 30 thereinshown comprises a relatively tape or a plurality of tapes which may bestitched flexible insole member 32, a relatively stiff rein or otherwisesecured to the lower or' lasting side forcing member or heel and shankpiece 34, and of the insole. Preferably the tape is stitched flat ametallic shank stiifener 36. The insole member '4o against the insole sothat it will not interfere 32 may be made of leather or any suitableflexible 40 with a molding operation which is subsequently insolematerial and died out or rounded to the to be performedupon the insoleand the reinforccontour of a full length insole. The heel and ing pieceand as a result of which those parts are shank piece 34 is composed ofstiff but readily to be secured togetherand arched'bothlongitudimoldable material, for example, ber or leathernally andtransversely to adapt the insole unit to board, and is shaped to conformin edge Contour 45 conform to the contour of the bottom of a last. tothe heel and shank portion of the insole. As Preferably, also, the tapeis stitched to the insole shown, the heel and shank piece 34 is skivedto a before the reinforcing piece and the shank stifthin edge at itsforward end so that no undesirfener are assembled therewith,thispractice perable ridge will be produced where it adjoins the mittingthe tape to be located nearer to the insole. The shank stiiener 36consists of a nar- 50 longitudinal center of the insole in the shank rowstrip of resilient metal which is initially portion than it could be ifthe metallic shank curved longitudinally to correspond to thelongistiffener were present when the stitching took tudinal curvature ofthe bottom of the last to be place and thus enabling insole units to bemade used in making the shoe in which the insole unit with exceptionallynarrow shank portions as re-. is to be incorporated. To assist inmaintaining 55 the shank stiffener 36 in assembled relation` with theother members of the insole unit `two apertures are formed in` theinsole 32 in positions to receive the opposite end portions of the shankstiffener 36.

In order that the margin of a shoe upper may be temporarily secured tothe insoleso that the upper will be held in place during the setting ofthe cement by means of. which it is to be permanently attached to theinsole, the latter is provided with a lasting lip 38 which, in the caseof a leather insole as shown in Figs.A 2 and 4', may advantageously beformed integrally with the' insole at the iiesh side thereof. The lip 38may be formed by edge slitting or channeling the insole in a well-knownmanner, as indicated in Fig. 3,.

to provide an edge slit 4D, a channel orl edge flap and a feather 44,and subsequently raising or turning thechannel or edge flap 42 into anappropriate position (as indicated by full lines in Fig. 2' and bydotted lines in Fig. 3) to constitute the lasting lip 3'8.Advantageously, the flap 42 will be trimmed, as indicated at 4B, thetrimming being effected preferably during the channeling operationby'means of al suitabley parts of the insole unit have been assembled3'5` and securedvr together so that there will be no upstanding iiap orlip upon the insole to interfere with the performance of the assemblingand securing operation and vparticularly with the n molding operation bymeans of which the insole unit is ultimately toV be shaped to adapt itto t the bottom of a last. Moreover, since the flap is not upstandingwhen the molding takes place it will not be distortedv or mutilatedbytheV molding pressure. Y

.Prior to the assembly of the parts of the insole the heel and shankportion of the upper surface of the insole and the lower side of theheel and shank piece 34 are coated with adhesive,

vsuch as rubber latex, and the parts are allowed 5,0,

to set long'enough to render the adhesive in proper condition forsecuring the parts together. Before the insole and the heel and shankpiece are Asecured together, however, the opposite end portions of theshank stifferier 36 are inserted through the apertures 50 in the insolewith the body portion of the' stiffener disposed at the upper side ofthe insole,- and the shank stiffener'is adjusted longiy tudinally tobring its forward end into a desired lengthwise relation to the insole.As indicated in the drawing, the assembly of the shank stiffener` withthe insole imparts a longitudinal curvature to the insole whichapproximates that of the shank stiffener. Also, as indicated, the shankstiffener has struck -up at its rear end a single pointed spur or prong10 which, during the molding of the insole 32 and the heel andshankjpiece 34, is forced into the material of the insole and thusfunctions vpositively 'to Yhold the shank stiffener against longitudinaldisplacement. The

heel and shank piece 34 is next laid with its coatedV surface upon thecoated heel and shank portion of the insole and the edges of the partsare alinedk by the use of any suitable gaging means.

The assembled parts are then subjected to` molding pressure whichsecures the heel and shank piece to the insole and molds those parts soas to curve them both longitudinally and transversely to adapt them toconform to the longitudinal and transverse curvatures of the bottom of alast. Advantageously, the molding may be effected by the use of moldingforms which may be incorporated in Va molding machine, such as thatdisclosed in my copending application Serial No. 701,814, filed December11, 1933, upon which United States Letters Patent No. 2,065,465 wasgranted December 22, 1936. After' the parts have been secured togetherand molded the flap formed by the hereinbefore described channeling oredge slitting of the insole is raised and laid back into position toconstitute the lastingA lip 38. Thereafter the opposite lateral edgesalong the shank portionof. the unit are preferably reduced by the use ofany suitable reduci-ng means so as to provide the beveled surfacesindicated at in Figs. 1 and 3, the angle of bevel being such as toYblend with the Aprofile of the last.

Instead of securing the Shank stiffener 36in place by inserting' itsopposite" end portions through apertures in the insole the shankstiffener may be secured by means of tacks |86 to the reinforcing piece343, as indicated in Fig. 5, or to the insole 320, as indicated in Fig.'7, the shank stiffener 36:0 being provided with the usual tack holesbut having no attaching prong or spur. insure that the shank stiffenershall have no tendencylv to produce an undesirable ridge or bulge in theinsole 320 and consequently in the outsole of the. shoe a shallow grooveH38 may beformed in the reinforcing member 340 to receive the shankstiffener, as clearly indicated in Fig. 6.

Instead of forming a lasting lip integrally with the substance of theinsole it may be desirable to secure Aa strip of tape or a plurality ofstrips of tape to the lower side of the insole to constitute a lastinglip. As shown, for examplain Figs. 7 to 10, inclusive, strips of tape 52may be secured by suitable fastening means, .such as stitches 54, to theinsole 320, the tapes being preferably stitched to the insole before thereinforcing piece and the shank stiffener are assembled therewith. Asindicated, the tapes may be stitched along their central kmedian linesand later the portions of the tapes at'opposite sides of the Stitchesraised by any suitable means, to the positions indicated in Fig. 11, toprovide an upstanding lasting lip. It is tol be noted that inasmuch asthe lips are initially stitched to the insole in a substantially fiatcondition they will not interfere with the operations of attaching thereinforcing piece and molding the shank portions of the reinforcingpiece and the insole. Moreover, by stitching the tapes to the insolebefore the reinforcing piece and the shank stiffener are assembled withthe insole, those portions of the tapes which are to constitute thelasting lips along the opposite lateral margins of the shank portion ofthe insole unit may be positioned much closer together inasmuch as itwill not be necessary to confine the stitching to locations such as toVavoidV the shank stiifener. there will be no shank stiifener present tointerfere with the passage of the needle through the insole. This is ofVparticular importance in the case of insole units having unusuallynarrow shank portions where, as indicated in Fig. 10,V

the lines of tape-attaching stitches may necessarily have to be locatedso close together that the presence of a shankstifener would interferewith the stitching operation. Furthermore. it

In other words, p

is of course much easier to pass the stitches only through the insolethan to pass them through both the insole and the reinforcing piecebecause of the thickness and toughness of the material (ber,leatherboard or the like) of which the stiff reinforcingV piece iscomposed.

The lasting lip 38 provides means to which a shoe upper may be stapledto hold it in place during the setting of the cement between the upperand the feather or margin of the insole, in accordance with the methodof making cementlasted shoes disclosed and claimed in United StatesLetters Patent No. 1,932,545, granted October 31, 1933, upon applicationof George Goddu. The particular lip formation herein shown,

however, differs somewhat from that disclosed in the Letters Patentreferred to.

It will be appreciated that it is practicable to form a lasting lip uponthe insolev in accordance with the methods herein described by reason ofthe fact that the reinforcing piece is to be secured to the upper orunlipped side of the insole. Being ultimately disposed atV theupper sideof the insole the reinforcing piece cannot interfere with the securingof a satisfactory cement bond between the shoe upper and the insoleunit. This will be readily appreciated in cases where the insole iscomposed of leather and the reinforcing piece of fiber, leatherboard orthe like, inasmuch as it is well known that cement will adhere better toleather than to fiber or leatherboard. Moreover, if the insole ischanneled so as to form a channel flap which is raised to provide alasting lip as herein described, the portion of the feather or margin ofthe insole which is cut by the channeling knife is well adapted toreceive cement in such a way as to insure the formation of a good bondbetween the upper and the insole. Furthermore, the shank stiifener,being also disposed at the upper side of the insole, does not reduce thearea of the cementing surface in the shank portion of the shoe bottom asfrequently happens when the shank stiffener is located at the lower orlasting side of the insole, particularly in the case of a narrow shankshoe.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A shoe bottom unit comprising a lipped insole, a stiff reinforcingmember for the heel and shank portions of the insole secured Yto theunlipped Side of the insole, and a narrow shank stiifener ofsubstantially uniform width located throughout a portion of its lengthbetween the reinforcing member and the upper side of the insole andbeing exposed throughout another portion of its length at the lower sideof the insole, the shank stiffener and the shank portions of the insoleand the reinforcing member being arched longitudinally to correspond tothe longitudinal curvature of the shank portion of a last bottom and theshank portions of the insole and the reinforcing piece being also archedtransversely.

2. A shoe bottom unit comprising a lipped insole having an aperturetherein, a stiff heel and shank reinforcing piece secured by means ofadhesive to the insole at the unlipped side thereof, and a narrow shankstiffener strip located throughout the greater part of its lengthbetween the insole and said reinforcing piece but having a portionextending through said aperture and secured to the lipped side of theinsole.

3. That improvement in methods of making shoe bottom units whichconsists in forming an insole having at one side a marginal flap lyingsubstantially flat with respect to that side of the insole, securing tosaid insole at the opposite side thereof a shank stiifener and a shankreinforcing piece thereby providing a shoe bottom unit and molding saidunit to curve said insole and said reinforcing piece longitudinally andtransversely before placing the unit upon a last, and thereafter raisingsaid flap into an upstanding position to constitute a lasting lip.

4. That improvement in methods of making shoe bottom units whichconsists in channeling an insole to provide a channel flap extendingaround the forepart and along both lateral marginal portions of theshank at one side of the insole, thereafter securing to the insole atthe opposite side thereof a shank stiffener and a shank reinforcingpiece to make a shoe bottom unit and molding said insole and saidreinforcing piece to curve them both longitudinally and transversely intheir shank portions before placing said unit upon a last, and nallyraising said flap into an upstanding position to constitute a lastinglip.

5. That improvement in methods of making shoe bottom units whichconsists in securing a tape to one side of an insole thereby providing alipped insole, and thereafter securing to the other side of the insole ashank stiffener and a shank reinforcing piece and molding the insole andthe reinforcing piece.

6. That improvement in methods of making shoe bottom units whichconsists in stitching a tape in a substantially at condition to one sideof an insole, thereafter securing to the other side of the insole ashank stiffener and a heel and shank reinforcing piece and molding theshank portions of the insole and the reinforcing piece, and nallyraising said tape into an upstanding position to serve as a lasting lip.

JOHN M. WHELTON.

